


The Parable of the Porcelain Figures

by ShakespeareFreak



Category: Original Work
Genre: Aesop's Fables - Freeform, Bible, Fables - Freeform, I have a very specific idea of what this means, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Kintsugi, Metaphorical, Metaphors, Morality, Mythology - Freeform, New Testament - Freeform, Parable, Parables of Jesus, aesop, biblical, but take what you need from it, fable, inspired by the Japanese practice of kintsugi, legend, storytelling style of Eastern folklore merged with Greek fables and Christian Bible parables, though I took some pretty serious liberties with how it's actually done to fit my storytelling needs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 22:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18748264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShakespeareFreak/pseuds/ShakespeareFreak
Summary: “They say, best men are moulded out of faults.”-William Shakespeare





	The Parable of the Porcelain Figures

There once was an old man who lived high in the mountains. All day and all night, he made beautiful porcelain figures, each one highly detailed and unique. No two were alike.

One day, his granddaughter came to visit him. She was playing with three of the beautiful porcelain figures, and one broke. She was about to throw it away, but the old man said, “Why are you going to discard him, child?”

The little girl explained the figure had broken. The old man looked thoughtful, then said, “Come with me, little one.”

He took the figure in one hand, and led his granddaughter to the kiln. He carefully filled the cracks in the figure with gold beads, covered it with mud, then put it into the kiln. The little girl watched, fascinated, as the flames licked at the shape of the figure.

As the fire surrounding the figure blazed brighter, the heated porcelain began to emit a high, keening sound, almost like a scream. The little girl shuddered, and her grandfather placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. “Everything will be all right, child. Wait and see.”

When he withdrew the figure from the kiln, he carefully broke off the layer of hardened mud, revealing that the gold had melted to fill the cracks. Once the figure had cooled, he handed it back to the child. “Well, what do you think?”

The girl turned the figure over in her hands thoughtfully. “You can still see the cracks,” she pointed out, looking at the golden veins crisscrossing the smooth white porcelain.

“Yes,” the old man agreed, “you always will. He’ll be different now, forever, than once he might have been. But he can wear it as men wear battle-scars, as a badge of courage, a reminder that he went through the flames and came out the other side renewed. Besides,” the old man went on, “perhaps he is more beautiful than before, bearing those scars?”

The little girl looked again at the gold shining in the sunlight, contrasting with the white gleam of the porcelain, and agreed that perhaps it was so. “Will it break again?” she asked.

“Nothing is unbreakable, little one. But he is stronger now than before, stronger even than his fellows, because now he has been forged in flames.”

The little girl was quiet for a long time, examining the figure. Finally she spoke again. “But… was it really worth the trouble to repair this one figure? You have hundreds like it.”

The old man said sternly, “I craft my figures with my own hands, and I put my Love into the making of each. They are my children, and I create each one to be special, unique. Out of countless figures, _none_ are like this one.

“Sometimes, when they are weak, one breaks… but my Love for them will bind them, make them stronger than before, even if it they must go through the fire to be healed.”


End file.
